Graaff-Reinet to Mossel Bay 20-23 May

Aberdeen 55km
Miracles do happen. Graaff Reinet is by no means a big town but it has character and a garage with a bike shop inside. My front tyre was now sporting two rather large holes and was strapped up with duct tape. Not good. I was ready to pay for a wrong size wheel or just some rubber to put inside but to my surprise a diminutive worker named Christopher found a size 28 tyre. I was elated and neatly hugged him. It was a small miracle but there was just no reason for them to have that tyre, as nobody rides bikes like mine here. It had rained all morning and the wind was awful but the afternoon gave me enough time to cycle to Aberdeen, a town which was built by the British and named Aberdeen as most of the soldiers at this particular location were Scottish. Well, it was a miserable, cold, wet and lonely evening. I could have been in Scotland, except I was completely sober.

Willowmore 120km
There was an almighty wind blowing all day, the kind that makes you think a storm is brewing. And it was blowing directly into my face. The road was long and there were no towns or services for 120km. But there were the regular picnic spots with concrete tables and chairs. I was invited for coffee by a nice couple named Jeff and Judy, who were on their way to the Southern tip of Africa at Aghulas. I was also given a kit kat which I demolished in seconds. Later a newly married couple (it said Just Married on their car) stopped to talk to me and gave me snacks and sun tan lotion! They were a very likeable pair, and I hope they get in touch.
The straight road continued with little of interest except the monkeys that sat on the barbed wire fences and ran as soon as they spotted me. It was one of those unglamorous days until I saw the dam which sat just before a range of hills just to the north of Willowmore. The dam was impressive and the hills appeared green on either sode but the ridged one in front of me was brick red. These hills loomed ominously ahead of me, taunting my tired legs and shouting “If the headwind hasn’t finished you off then we will!”
I took a deep breath, put on the theme tune to gladiator, as well as a determined grimace like a demented pitbull and fought the wind and the slope. Going up was horrible, but coming down as the sun disappeared behind me was exhilerating. I could see the lights of Willowmore sparkling in the darkness ahead. I stayed at Rika’s B&B in a room the size of a village hall. I wish I’d had some friends with me. We could gave held quite a party in that room!

Almost to George 150km
Staying on the N9, via Uniondale. I managed 3 decent sized climbs snd spotted a few baboons. As sun set, I could have sworn I’d taken a wrong turn and ended up in Switzerland. Green fields with cows grazing below mountains which were covered in cloud as if someone had laid a blanket of cotton wool on top of them added to the cold air was very Alpine indeed. Only an Ostrich in one field reminded me that I was still in Africa. Despite the beauty of the countryside, I was finding it hard and didn’t reach George before the sun set. I realized that heading down a 500m descent in the dark wasn’t the smartest idea so I stopped and camped 25km before George.

Mossel Bay 73km
In the morning I climbed that hill and flew down towards George. On the way I met a crew of guys filming a video called HappySouthAfrica and they asked me to be in it! So I danced on a wall clapping my hands to the music. They told me the video will be on YouTube in about a month!

At Mossel Bay I stood in the sea. It was a special moment made better by the afternoon sun. I had cycled the length of Africa and it felt like a real achievement. I felt I deserved to rest in this beautiful place. I stayed in the Santos Express Train lodge, a dorm in a real train, right in front of the beach. Spectacular.

Facebook Posts

Picnic in Kensington gardens, London. Three years today Paola and I started cycling South America. Now we are in London. Happily married and enjoying life. We may not be cycling so far each day but we are cycling again. And most of all, we are together. It is time to start writing again too. And say hello to our friends around the world! ... See MoreSee Less

I'm no longer cycling the world 🚴 but life is great. Since finishing, my last update was that I was getting over being very ill with typhoid. Well, good news! I am fully recovered and adjusting to UK life, looking for a job, and getting fit again. I want to thank certain superheroes, mostly my amazing wife, Paola Ojeda, and my as-ever there for me parents (apparently you never retire if you have kids) for helping me with this adjustment.

And now the party is on! We have a party in two weeks from now to celebrate a year of marriage. I can't wait to celebrate with my family and friends! ...but sadly many of you can't come. And mostly because you don't live here.

For those who cannot come to our party and celebrate our story, I'm sharing this music video that captures the flavour of our relationship:

1. Shakira and Carlos Vives (two of Colombia's biggest stars singing about Barcelona, where we met, and Colombia where we got married (we honeymooned in Cartagena, Santa Marta and Tyrona)2. It's a song about a bicycle that carries them everywhere ("mi bici que me lleva a todos lados")3. A wierd guy with a very attractive girl, a couple that you might not have put together, but when you look at them dancing, you think "Well they seem real happy so that's ok". ... See MoreSee Less

I have been very ill, in hospital with Typhoid and Giardia this week which I brought home from India. They are infections caused by contaminated water and poor sanitation, and have horrible symptoms. Don't worry, they're not contagious. Anymore.

I'm keen for my friends to know I'm much better now, and finishing off the antibiotics at home.

The wierd thing is that I'm happy it happened, even though I missed out on a wedding I have been looking forward to for a year.

Having raised money for wateraid, I now understand, first hand, the pain that people living without clean water and sanitation go through. All you want is for the pain to stop, and go away. You lose your appetite, all the nutrients in your body, and it literally drains the colour from your skin. It is agony, with shaking, and cold sweats, a constant headache, with all your time spent running to the toilet, and at its worst, you are so weak you can barely stand up to get there. Even hooked up to a saline drip, and drinking three litres of clean water per day, I couldn't stay hydrated. The thirsty cyclist has been a name that no longer needs further explanation.

And yet I'm extremely lucky. This sickness has happened after the end of my trip, and I was already back in the UK where we have an incredible health service. My GP and the team at St George's hospital did a world class job. I'm almost completely better. And I'm in a house with beautiful clean water to drink straight from the tap. We even have a water filter just to be even safer.

The part that gets me emotional is that there are so many parts of the world with contaminated water and without the incredible medical treatment that was made available to me. Kids are drinking water, getting horribly ill, and drinking the same filthy water because they are so dehydrated. And in so many cases are dying in a horrible unthinkable way. I want to reach out to them with antibiotics to make them well, and gallons of refreshing clean water they can drink with elecrolytes to actually properly rehydrate them. I want to build pipelines so that clean water can flow to their taps, without any chance of being contaminated with urine or faeces. I want hygiene education programs so that people understand the importance of washing their hands properly when handling and preparing food. I want to know I can save one person from what I've just been through.

Well, WATERAID are doing that. And that gets me right emotional. I'm so bloody proud of the £3,606 I've raised for that cause (I've raised a similar amount for Streetchild) But now I have a renewed determination to keep raising more until I hit £10,000 for each charity.